00:04Now, as many cities swelter in record-breaking heat, concerns are growing over the challenges
00:10it brings for electricity grids and energy demand. Well, our correspondent Siobhan McCaul
00:16has all the details. Siobhan.
00:17Thanks, Geoff. Yes, Europe is seeing unusually high May temperatures in many places. It's
00:23linked to a heat dome, which is warm air trapped under a strong area of persistent high pressure.
00:29The UK has recorded its hottest ever May temperature. The record was broken in London,
00:35hitting 34.8 degrees Celsius. That's two degrees higher than the previous record,
00:42dating back to 1944 that was held before today. Now, in France, 12 cities broke May records over
00:49the weekend, with places like Nantes expected to pass 35 degrees, beating its previous record by
00:55several degrees. Heat waves bring major disruptions to electricity grids and energy price rises.
01:02For example, during Europe's week-long high heat wave at the end of June last year,
01:07the temperature in Germany jumped from 22 degrees to 31 degrees Celsius, and that drew up electricity
01:15demand by 6%. And look at the impact it had on average daily prices. They jumped from around 46 euros
01:24per megawatt hour on June 24th to 127 on June 1st. That's an increase of 175%.
01:35Now, a severe heat wave is also sweeping across India. Temperatures have soared to 48 degrees Celsius
01:42in several regions over the last few days, while in late April, every one of the 50 hottest cities in
01:49the world were located in India. The record-breaking heat has pushed India's electricity demand to an all-time
01:56high in excess of 270 gigawatts. The government has called for residents to limit use. The surge in demand
02:05is likely due to an increase in the use of air conditioning services, and more than 60% of energy
02:11generation was from thermal power, largely coal. Experts say its heat waves are becoming longer, stronger,
02:18and more frequent. And climate forecasters are increasingly concerned that a potentially powerful
02:25super El Nino event could emerge later this year. It's the warming of sea surface temperatures that
02:31happens every few years. A strong or super El Nino is when the sea surface temperatures in the central and
02:37eastern Pacific rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. And by November, they are predicted to rise by 2.5
02:46degrees
02:46Celsius. And scientists say that could cause record global temperatures and huge humanitarian
02:52impacts. It can trigger intense rainfall in some areas and severe drought in others, and could
02:58worsen global food insecurity. The last super El Nino was 10 years ago, and that's what saw 2016
03:05become the hottest year on record at the time. Well, let's get more on all this. Dave Jones is chief
03:12analyst for global energy consultancy Ember. Dave, welcome to the program. So the concerns about
03:18potential strong El Nino and extreme heat around the world, what pressure could this place on energy
03:25systems? Yeah, the last El Nino was in 2023. And when that happened, there was a surge in electricity,
03:35the use of air conditioning, less hydro generation because of droughts. And in China alone, that led
03:42to a 6% rise in coal generation. What we're seeing now is we're seeing some electricity systems going into
03:51this year stronger. In a stronger position, there's been a surge in solar generation in many countries
03:58across the world, which is able to meet a lot of that rise in electricity demand. And also there's a
04:05rise in in coal stocks. And also we're not going quite the same drought scenario as we were going
04:11from 2021, 22 into 2023. So it's going to provide a lot of stress, but perhaps the electricity system
04:19might be better prepared for at this time. So we've just seen India record that all time high in power
04:26generation, that's likely linked to increased use of air conditioning. Is this a glimpse into the
04:31future for many countries? Yeah, it's really interesting. So when it peaked last week, it
04:37peaked at half past three in the afternoon, the electricity demand as people were using their
04:41air conditioners. And that was at the same time, there was still a lot of solar coming onto the grid.
04:47But what happened by half past 10, actually the peak for coal generation at half was at half past 10
04:53in the evening. So people use those air conditioners longer, they're pulling from the grid
04:57after the sun has gone down. And we're kind of in this, for up at the moment, where during the
05:04daytime, there's a huge supply of electricity onto the grid from solar. So that's not causing a
05:10problem. The problem comes when the sun comes down and there's ways that we need to deal with that,
05:15thinking around batteries, thinking around different price use of electricity, that people should
05:21have cheaper electricity during the day, compared to the evening.
05:24We're seeing energy, we're seeing temperatures jump by several degrees. How can countries adapt to
05:31this increased energy demand?
05:35Um, the, yeah, the, um, the most important thing is that people have calling available to them.
05:41Um, and, and what India's seen in the last few years, the huge, uh, during the amount of air
05:45conditioners, um, that people have got, um, what's important now is trying to, uh, trying to work
05:53out how to do that as efficiently as possible. The amount of electricity that air conditioners use
05:57is, is fast. And the International Energy Agency say that the rise in, uh, divide for air conditioning,
06:04uh, in the next five years is going to be bigger than that for, than for data centers.
06:08So that's the scale of the problem going through. So it's, it's trying to think about efficiency,
06:12and it's trying to plan for the grid to make sure there's enough capacity there to meet it.
06:17All right. Dave Jones, thank you. Chief Analyst for EMBA. And Jeff, uh, we're keeping across this
06:22story as the temperatures look set to keep increasing in Europe towards the end of May. Back to you.
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